Banana River to Lake Worth

Freshly baked bread cooling before it is ready to eat.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Well we have made it to Lake Worth (North Palm Beach), the last stop before crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas! We will now start watching the weather closely. We need 15 knots of wind or less and no northerly component in the wind to have a pleasant crossing.

We woke on Tuesday in the Banana River to a fleet of kayakers or rowers swishing past. These were young guys with big shoulders who were kneeling on one knee and paddling very narrow kayaks. I was very impressed. We motored south to Fort Pierce with warm temperatures, and I baked a loaf of bread along the way. We anchored three times in the Ft. Pierce anchorage. Once we were too close to another boat, once we had about 6 inches of water under our keel (at high tide), and the third time was the charm.

The weather forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday was for a cold front to pass so we decided to high tail it for Stuart on the St. Lucie River where the anchorage was better protected. Along the way we saw a large flock of wood storks. Very impressive birds -- they were huge! We picked up a mooring ball for two nights at the South Point Anchorage which is run by the City of Stuart. The cold front didn’t arrive until early Wednesday morning. We had lots of lightning, rain, and wind. The rain stopped, and we took our newest dinghy (the fourth one) to the dinghy dock for a shopping trip to Publix. Bill is still not sure we have enough beer. Later in the afternoon we went into historic downtown Stuart to look at the shops full of stuff we don’t want or need.

Wednesday night’s lows were to be in the upper 30’s so the Red Cross opened two cold weather shelters. These shelters were for those who live in unheated, inadequately heated houses, or those living aboard unheated boats. We were tough sailors and stayed on board. It got down to 53 inside Irish Eyes, and we had highs in the 60’s today. It was been a long underwear day, again. We thought we were past that. Julia and Josh took away our winter coats, but thankfully we haven’t needed them.

We will watch the weather and do our final provisioning. I am excited!

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Daytona Beach to Titusville and the Manatees

Adair touches the back of a manatee.

A manatee swimming on its back takes a drink of water.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

We motored south on the ICW from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach without incident. Most of this section was a canal with houses sometimes on both banks, but sometimes with houses on one side and wildlife reserve on the other. We passed through 4 bascule bridges. All opened on demand so we didn’t have to piddle about waiting for an opening.

Thursday morning dawned quite gray and the weather forecast was for showers throughout the day. Bill suggested we spend the day at anchor. His reasoning was the rain and temperature were warm; in the 70s, not mentioning that West Marine was a short dinghy ride away. I readily agreed but didn’t make the trip to West Marine! A lay day suited me just fine.

We left our anchorage early on Friday morning to make sure we got to Titusville by evening. The ICW in this stretch goes through Mosquito Lagoon. We saw lots of small fishing boats and tons of birds but no mosquitoes. The developments along the way were mostly trailer parks for 50+ residents, a change from the $600,000 to $6M houses and condo developments! I think the guys with the trailers and small fishing boats probably have more fun. At least they come outside and play.

We arrived in the Titusville Municipal Marina and decided to refuel before going to our slip. As we were leaving the fuel dock this large blob of browny-green stuff was off to our port. The blob moved so I asked the dock man if that was a manatee. “Yes m’am” he said. We discovered that the marina was full of these strange creatures. All you have to do to attract one is wring out a cloth over the water, and they come running. Running is an exaggeration as they are very slow. The poor things are plain homely. They have a few barnacles, lots of algae, and occasional propeller scar along their backs… they are just fat round shapeless green things. We did have fun watching the manatees, and we escaped the $500 fine for giving them either food or water.

Julia and Joshua came from Winter Haven to spend the night on Saturday. They brought us a new bigger dinghy we had ordered and took away our winter coats and electric heater (good trade). We shopped for food and things we had forgotten filling Irish Eyes full. Bill still says we still don’t have enough beer. [A reasonable 2 beers per person per day times two people times 100 days equals 400 cans or 16 cases; WSM] We had supper at the Titusville landmark restaurant, Dixie Crossroads. The place is huge! The specialty is rock shrimp, so of course we had a few.

After short shopping trip for things forgotten and more beer [still not enough, WSM], we left Titusville headed south. Julia and Josh will have to unpack all our stuff from their car; poor things. They have our old dinghy and lots of long underwear! We headed south with all the Sunday boaters. We saw more boat traffic today than we have seen total on the rest of the trip. To make it a perfect day, we sailed on a broad reach under genoa alone for three hours at 5+kt this afternoon traveling without the drone of the engine.

We are anchored in the mouth of the Banana River in the town of Eau Gallie behind Dragon Point (although the once 200’ dragon is now in ruins, nothing but a pile of green concrete slabs). There is a little traffic noise now, but hopefully that will settle down as the evening progresses.

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Two Way Fish Camp to St Augustine

Hard aground (but upright) in the Brickhall River minutes before floating off.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Sunday, we had an uneventful trip from Two Way Fish Camp to our anchorage off Cumberland Island, GA. We arrived at Jekyll Creek about an hour early. Jekyll Creek is reported to have as little as 4 feet of water in spots. We threw out an anchor, ate lunch, and read or knitted while we waited for the tide to rise, and then started down the creek. We didn’t have any trouble with water depth. We crossed St. Andrew’s Sound with lots of wind and swell. Adair had started a loaf of bread while we were anchored and managed to finish baking it while crossing the sound.

We anchored in the Brickhill River behind Cumberland Island Sunday night. The wind died during the night, and we thought we had seen the last of the predicted cold front. Wrong! No sooner had we gotten underway in the morning than the rain started, there was a tornado watch, and NOAA issued a severe weather warning for the Cumberland Island area. Being the careful sailors we are, we dropped an anchor in a curve of the river to wait out the storms. Our trusty radar can see rain, and it let us know when the bad weather had passed. We weighed anchor and continued down the river to rejoin the ICW. Unfortunately, it was by then nearing low tide, and we found a five foot shoal with our five foot keel in the mouth of the river which became even shallower as the tide fell. Bill sounded around the boat, then dinghied an anchor out into deeper water. We waited for the tide to finish falling and then rise again. The skies cleared, we waited. We read or knitted, and waited. Finally, Irish Eyes floated off her bar and once again we were headed to Florida.

The wind was perfect after the weather cleared, and we actually raised a sail for a bit. We anchored off Fernandina, FL for the night.

Today’s trip to St. Augustine was uneventful. We saw lots of birds, white ibis, white pelicans, and ones we can’t find in our bird book. We are anchored tonight in the St. Augustine, FL harbor along with at least 50 other boats. Some look great; others look like they have been abandoned (or worse). This is as far south as we have travelled in Canary, our 22 foot sailboat. Navigating the junction of the ICW & the St. Augustine inlet on a February afternoon in a 34 foot boat is very different doing the same thing on a September Saturday afternoon in a 22 foot boat. We didn’t see but one other boat this afternoon. We both remember a flotilla of power boats zooming all around and rolling us in their wakes when we came here in Canary. It was much calmer today.

Life is really good!

The Georgia Marshes

Sunset over the Georgia marshes

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Good Morning from Two Way Fish Camp Marina near Brunswick, GA. We came up the South Altamaha River to buy fuel, have a shower and a restaurant meal.

The fuel dock here is in 4 feet of water, so Bill had to fill the jugs and carry them back to Irish Eyes. The marina operator turned on the gasoline pump rather than the diesel, so we got two gallons of gas in the diesel jug. Bill poured the gas in the proper jug and went on. The restaurant meal was good. After a week of just the drone of the motor, the noisy restaurant was sensory overload! Why the name Two Way Fish Camp? From the Marina if you go upstream you are in fresh water and if you go downstream you are in salt water. As you can imagine this is a fishing marina. Adair says she has now taken a shower in one that is a grade down from Lakeshore Marina on Watauga Lake. She didn’t have hot water which made her unhappy. And, she is especially mad because the mens shower had hot water

We have navigated three of the shallow spots in Georgia with only one to go. In the Little Mud River we waited for a tug & barge to pass rather than negotiate a 6 foot section with him. The weather has been warmer with a high yesterday of 75. A coldfront is to pass through tonight with some rain and lots of wind predicted. We have bugs for the first time since November, just irritating gnats not biters yet. We are both looking forward to shorts and tee shirts.

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It is Cold Here

Bill in the cold.

Thursday, February 14,2008

Happy Valentine’s Day. Today was our coldest morning so far. The thermometer read 44 degrees inside the boat at about 8am. We both put on the wool underwear & heavy coats, hats & gloves. Adair forgot her wooly hat but thanks to her sister, Elaine who loaned her one, she has had a warm head. The sun was bright but still cold all day. We spent last night anchored in the South Edisto River with a fierce current & a fair amount of wind. We motored all day past Beaufort, SC & are currently anchored in Skull Creek off Hilton Head Island.

The motoring down the ICW can get pretty boring. We have been looking at the ducks wintering in SC & argued over exactly what we are seeing. We agree on Hooded Mergansers, Common Loons & Buffleheads.

Warmth awaits!

Carolina Beach to N. Myrtle Beach

Adair cooked pecan-bananna muffins for breakfast

Sunday February 10,200

We are currently in North Myrtle Beach,SC visiting with Adair’s family. The weather is clear & a little cooler, still not cold. Our trip down the Cape Fear River was fast. We had the current & wind pushing us along, We picked up a spare starter motor Bill had gotten from EBay & shipped to Elaine & JP.,so all the spares are now on board.

We will continue to try & keep you all up to date on our progress.

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Underway and Headed South

The Figure Eight Island Bridge, covered with tarps, only opened at noon

February 7, 2008

Tonight are anchored in the harbor at Carolina Beach, NC. So far we have had only a few minor glitches on our trip south.

We left New Bern, NC on Monday, February 4 at 1430 (that is 2:30 pm for the un-nautical) and had an uneventful motor trip to Cedar Creek. We anchored at sunset and spent a noisy night. It takes a day or two to adjust to the boat's nighttime creaks, groans, and slaps. We left in the morning with overcast skies but otherwise nice weather. We motored down the Intracostal Waterway's ditch to the Newport River north of Morehead City where fog completely enveloped us. Water dripped form the rigging, and these two sailors couldn't see more than a boat length in front of us! We navigated by radar. Adair steered and Bill called out courses. We were suprised by two fishing boats coming in from the sea but thankfully managed to avoid any collision. Fog is not for us. The fog lifted later in the afternoon, and just before sunset we motored into Mile Hammock Bay in the middle of Camp Lejeune to spend a night at anchor surrounded by the US Marines.

Wednesday was foggy to start with but cleared later in the morning. We arrived at the first of the three bridges we expected to pass under that day, Surf City, NC. The bridge tender told us that the next bridge, Figure Eight Island, only opened at noon due to maintenance. We couldn't make the noon opening, so we pulled into the Beachhouse Marina in Surf City to spend the night.

Thursday morning was beautiful; clear blue sky, cooler but still not cold... yet. We motored through the last two bridges on this stretch without any problems. Our next hurdle was the Carolina Beach Inlet. It is notoriously shallow, and we were to cross at dead low tide. Well, we found the bottom. No damage done except to the Captain's pride, an hour wasted waiting for the tide to rise and get us off, and maybe a little bottom paint left behind.

We are headed to Southport, NC tommorrow and then to Little River, SC on Saturday for a visit with Adair's sister, Elaine, and brother-in-law JP. We aren't yet low on food or booze, so should just be a fun visit.